Idaho Legislature: Ask Legislators to VOTE YES on H0345 - Medicaid, amendments, leg approval (posted 03/06/25)

• Bill: legislature.idaho.gov/s…

• Contact Legislators: emailidaho.com

(Check the linked page or use My Bill Tracker for the bill’s current status.)

__________

Medicaid Expansion was a misleading ballot initiative that become law and ended up costing an unexpected arm and leg.

Medicaid grows in size, scope, and spending, while increasing dependence on government, reducing incentives to provide quality care, and forcing private competitors out of the market. Medicaid and Medicaid expansion are among the most expensive government programs and largest ongoing drivers of federal debt.

• About 90% of Idaho’s Medicaid comes from federal dollars.

• As Medicaid grows, federal dollars become a growing share of Idaho’s budget.

• Federal dollars come with strings that require Idaho to comply with policies and priorities that may not match Idaho’s values and best interests.

• Idaho’s Medicaid expansion costs more than tripled, increasing from $403 million in FY21 to over $1.36 billion estimated for FY26.

• If nothing changes, Medicaid likely will prevent funding for priorities like schools, roads, and law enforcement.

Brian Almon offers an excellent analysis of H0138 and H0345, both designed to rein in Medicaid spending.

• H0138 creates sideboards for Medicaid Expansion, including a cap on enrollees and work requirements for beneficiaries. Includes a trigger clause that would completely repeal Expansion should the federal government not grant waivers necessary to add those sideboards.

• H0345 includes work requirements and other sideboards, but has no trigger clause. It also includes switching to a managed care plan (which is a step toward socialist single-payer health care) instead of the current value care organization plan.

We strongly favor H0138 but H0345 is better than no reforms. And we strongly agree with Mr. Almon on this crucial point, which Idaho legislators should take seriously:

We must reorient our society away from a welfare model and back toward one that not only incentivizes self-sufficiency, but creates room for people to take care of each other as well. There is nothing noble about passing a law to confiscate tax dollars and give them to someone else. That is a very different thing than giving of yourself to help your fellow man.

References:

• IFF: House Bill 345 — Medicaid Reform, Parameters, Cost-Containment (+3): tinyurl.com/46emvzn6

• IFF: House Bill 138 — Medicaid expansion, conditions (+5): tinyurl.com/y8hvtsrw

• Substack Note: tinyurl.com/yckesu3t